By Robin E. Simmons
THE WALL
Directed by Julian Pölsler, award-winning German actress Martina Gedeck stars in this riveting, allegorical tale of survival set in the spectacular Austrian countryside. Exquisite cinematography propels this puzzling and thoughtful story of isolation and its impact on the human spirit as it is forced to rejoin the breathtaking but indifferent natural world.
Naturally I thought of Stephen King’s “THE DOME” (both the book and the cheap looking, seemingly endless CBS series with the god-awful music) as the movie began. But this is a different take on a similar premise with superior satisfaction and rewards for the viewer.
Gedeck delivers a tour-de-force performance as she endures all kinds of physical and psychological challenges when she discovers, to her horror, that she is trapped behind an invisible, impenetrable wall in a remote mountain area. This compelling, mind-bending adventure that’s seasoned with philosophical, psychological and sci-fi elements kept me involved.
Based on Marlen Haushofer’s highly-praised 1962 novel (the only novel of her works to be translated into English), THE WALL is the story of Gedeck’s unnamed character — The Woman — who is vacationing in the stunning Austrian mountains when an invisible wall suddenly and inexplicably encompasses the countryside and cuts her off from the civilization she left behind. Though the blue sky, chirping birds and surrounding nature appear to be normal, The Woman is in fact cut of from all human contact and separated from the rest of the world. With her loyal dog Lynx as a sole companion, The Woman becomes immersed and enmeshed in a pristine world hardly touched by civilization and ruled only by the laws of nature, which prove to be both benign and dangerous. As she grapples with her bizarre circumstances, The Woman begins an inward journey of spiritual discovery and eventually transcendence. At one point we hear her voice over narration (taken from her journal): “I pity animals and I pity people, because they are thrown into this life without being consulted,” she says. “Maybe people are more deserving of pity, because they have just enough intelligence to resist the natural course of things.” Music Box Films. Blu-ray.
TRIUMPH OF THE WALL
Another kind of wall is considered in this amiable, meandering and finally satisfying documentary that follows Chris Overton, a self-taught rural Quebec stonemason as he plans to build a 1,000-foot long stonewall in eight weeks. Ten years into the project, the wall does not seem to be fully completed, but the obsession and the process has yielded a film about expectations and two guys – the other guy is filmmaker Bill Stone (yes, stone) – who are stumped to explain exactly what they are doing and what it means – if anything. Clearly the lesson learned – at least by the viewer of the film – is that art and life is much more about the process than the thing itself. What I really liked, and why the movie is worth seeing, is for the last 30 minutes which are spent in Scotland with a “diker” who has spent 20 years learning his trade of making free standing hedgerows and explains why his is the best life possible. I found a new way to think about stones help in my own quest to be ever more mindful of the precious passing moments. First Run Features. DVD.
MARGARET
I finally got around to watching the extended director’s cut (at 3 three hours) of this 2006 film that was finally released theatrically in 2011 and for home theater at the end of last year. Wow, I was mesmerized by this unexpectedly compelling — almost operatic — story of a 17-year-old New York City high-school student (Anna Paquin) who believes she has unintentionally caused a traffic accident that killed a woman.
Her desire to set things right is met with opposition at every step. Torn apart by guilt and frustration that justice is an increasingly distant option, she punishes herself with self-loathing and hurts those around her as she realizes the real world of adults is a nebulous place where doing what’s right is a foggy ideal seldom clearly defined.
Margaret is not a character in the movie but rather a reference in Gerard Manley Hopkins 1888 poem “Spring and Fall.” Hopkins asks: “Margaret, are you grieving, Over Goldengrove unleaving?” and then answers at poem’s end “…It is the blight man was born for, It is Margaret you mourn for.”
The theatrical release has a running time of 150 minutes and it’s the Blu-ray disc on the combo pack. The far superior, more richly detailed and moody director’s cut is 180 minutes and is on the DVD. But it’s the latter that seems shorter. The superb supporting cast includes: Matthew Broderick, Matt Damon, Jean Reno, Allison Janney, and Mark Ruffalo among others. It’s safe to say this singular film has already garnered a cult following as an ever-growing number people continue to stumbled on this hellish emotionally journey of realization and redemption. 20th Century Fox. Blu-ray/DVD.
Also available for the home theater:
ARROW: Season One (Warner Bros. Blu-ray);
SOUTHPARK: The Complete Sixteenth Season (Paramount Blu-ray).
RobinESimmons@aol.com
